KANSAS CITY/INDEPENDENCE, MO (KCTV) — KCTV5 has learned that Cody Harrison, the suspect in the fatal shooting of Independence police officer Blaize Madrid-Evans was recently arrested by KCPD with a weapon.
He was currently facing other charges which include burglary and stealing. He was out on bond.
We also requested police reports from area agencies.
We received a report from Grain Valley where Harrison faced a burglary charge for allegedly stealing from a former employer. That report included a chilling warning.
“It should be noted, Cody is known to always be armed with a firearm,” the officer wrote.
Harrison has a previous felony conviction involving a weapon. He was convicted in 2011 for shooting at or from a motor vehicle and spent time in state prison.
Harrison was arrested on Sept 2nd for having a handgun, but he wasn’t charged yet.
The Jackson County prosecutor tells KCTV5 she received a probable cause statement on September 9th. Harrison had not been charged at the time of the fatal shooting.
A felon in possession of a weapon is a class C felony and punishable by 3-10 years in prison.
At the time of the shooting, Harrison had violated the terms of his parole.
After being contacted by KCTV5, the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office released the following statement in regards to the fatal shooting and local media coverage:
Contrary to early reporting, the Jackson County prosecutor’s office had not declined to prosecute or file a case against Cody Harrison was out of jail when he shot an Independence Police officer this week.
In fact, a warrant for Cody Harrison’s arrest was issued on Sept. 13, 2021, after he failed to appear for a hearing in late August in a criminal case initiated in February 2021. We requested that arrest warrant.
In that case, Harrison was charged with burglary 2nd Degree and Stealing for a Grain Valley, MO, crime. At the time we filed that case, our office’s original request was for a bond of $10,000/10 percent, which is within the state Supreme Court’s bond guidelines. The court, however, issued the $6,000/10 percent bond and it was later reduced by the court to an ROR bond (Release on his own recognizance).
In addition, Kansas City police submitted to us on Sept. 7 (received by our office on Sept. 9) a new case on Harrison for earlier that month (Sept. 2) carrying a firearm which he was prohibited to carry because he was a convicted felon. That case was under review for charging in our office.
Though arrested on Sept.2, we did not receive the case until Sept. 9, when Harrison had been out of custody for days.
Harrison was convicted in 2011 in Clay County of Unlawful Use of A Weapon and sentenced to 15 years in prison. It’s our understanding that he was on parole out of Clay County for that conviction.
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